To Catch A Glimpse
by WarriorHale
Summary: A meddlesome witch gives Stiles and Derek a look at how things could be for them if they stopped antagonising each other. Eventual NC-17.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Teen Wolf or any of the_ characters.  
**Author's note: **_This fic is set after 3A and is canon compliant with 3A except in this fic Derek and Cora did not leave Beacon Hills._

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The pack looked on in a mix of frustration and boredom as yet another argument erupted between Derek and Stiles. It had been the fourth one in the past week.

"Why is it you have to put a downer on absolutely _everything _that we try to do?" Stiles shouted, and moved forward into Derek's space. "We're all trying our best to fix this situation and get rid of these creatures that are taking people's kids and all you're doing is whining about the fact that we've asked for help from a witch!"

Derek snarled and pushed Stiles out of his personal space before launching into a tirade of his own.

"We don't know that we can trust her. How do we know that she's even on our side? My family have dealt with witches before and they are _not_ known for their loyalty to werewolves!"

He moved closer to Stiles, his voice rising with his temper and continued. "I'm trying to make sure things don't get any worse but every time I make a suggestion _you_ jump down my throat and try to start a-"

"Oh, shut _up_. Derek!" Stiles interrupted and jabbed his finger into Derek's chest. "I don't start fights with you, it's the other way around. Don't even try and blame this on-"

"QUIET!" The witch in question's voice rang out through the loft, loud and authoritative, causing everyone in the room to turn their attention to her immediately. "I have been here for less than a day and already I'm sick of listening to the pair of you bickering when it is clear to anyone with even half a brain that if you stopped being blind _fools_ and worked together you would make a powerful team."

Both Stiles and Derek scoffed at the suggestion that they could work well together.

The witch raised her perfectly arched eyebrow at them.

"You don't believe what I'm saying? Well then, I guess I'll just have to _show_ you how things could be."

She closed her eyes in what appeared to be deep concentration and began muttering something in a language that no one could understand. Before anyone could stop her, the witch pushed her hands out forcefully in Derek and Stiles' direction and the energy that flowed through the room was almost tangible.

"What the hell?" Stiles questioned, his eyes wide and panicked.

"What did you just do?" Derek demanded, rage etched all over his face.

The witch simply smirked at the pair before turning to Scott.

"Contact me when these two get their act together, Alpha McCall. And _not_ before." she told him before disappearing right before everyone's eyes.

"I did _not_ know witches could do that," said Isaac, his eyes fixed on the spot where the which had stood just seconds before.

— — — — -

For almost two hours after the witch left, Scott, Stiles, Isaac, Allison, Lydia and Cora stayed at Derek's to try and figure out exactly what she had done.

"So, both of you are one hundred percent sure that you don't feel any different?" Lydia asked.

Both Stiles and Derek shook their heads in reply.

"Then I don't think there's anything we can do right now. We can't figure out what she's done until one or both of you start showing symptoms of something."

"And if it was anything life threatening, I'm pretty sure this one here would be screeching right about now," Cora added, inclining her head towards Lydia.

After agreeing that there was nothing that could be done that evening, Derek ordered everyone except Cora, who was living with him, out of the loft so that he could get some peace and quiet.

— — — —

The next morning, Derek woke slowly from the best sleep he'd had in years. It took him a few moments to register the warm weight draped over his waist and the feeling of something plastered up against his back. Another minute or so passed until his sleepy haze lifted enough to realise that what he was feeling was another person. He was being spooned. He was butt naked and was being some equally naked person's little spoon.

Derek jolted up and turned to find out who was in bed with him and was confused beyond all belief to find Stiles sprawled out next to him on the mattress. He watched as Stiles began to stir awake and racked his brain in attempt to figure out what the _fuck_ was going on.

"Stiles," Derek placed a hand on Stiles' arm to shake him fully awake. "Wake up."

Stiles blinked open sleepy eyes to look at Derek.

"Dude, what are you doing in my bed? With no clothes on? I mean not that I'm complaining, we both know you're buff but- oh my GOD why have _I_ got no clothes on?!" Stiles exclaimed when he had woken up fully. He scrambled up into a sitting position and pulled the duvet up to his neck. "This isn't even my room."

It hadn't even occurred to Derek that they were in an unfamiliar room because it didn't smell unfamiliar. It smelled like a mixture of Derek and Stiles. Even more bizarrely, it smelled like _home_.

Derek looked around the bedroom and took in the charcoal grey walls, white furniture and the flat screen television that was mounted on the wall facing the incredibly comfortable king size bed that he and Stiles were in. It was nice, he liked it; it was similar to how he had been planning to decorate his bedroom in the loft when he got the time.

"Where are we?" Stiles asked and although his voice sounded calm, Derek could hear the way his heart rate was picking up speed.

"I have no idea," Derek told him. When Stiles' heart reacted by beating even faster, Derek continued, "But I don't feel like we're in any danger."

"Okay, that's good. I can work with that," Stiles replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself down before turning to look at the bedside table. "What the fuck," he swore quietly as he lifted up a framed photo, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

Derek took the photo when Stiles offered it to him and his stomach lurched when he found himself staring at a photo of Stiles and himself. They were posing in front of a barbecue, their arms wrapped around each other and the Stiles in the photo was grinning wide and happy, holding a spatula in his free hand and wearing an apron that had 'kiss the chef' emblazoned on the front of it while Derek in the photo kissed him on the cheek.

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**A/n: **_I hope everyone enjoyed that and is interested in reading more! If anyone has tumblr my url is warriorhale there too and I take fic prompts there._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Teen Wolf or any of the_ characters.  
**Author's note: **_I hope you all enjoy this chapter!_

"Now, go ahead and correct me if I'm wrong," Stiles began. "But what's going on in that photo has never happened. _Right_?"

Derek could hear the fear and uncertainty in Stiles' voice and he could relate. He felt like he was going crazy; he had no idea where he was and no memory of how he had gotten there in the first place and now he was staring at a photo of himself and Stiles looking like the most loved up couple in the world, which made absolutely no sense to him either. Because _really? _Him and _Stiles? _The only thing preventing him from going absolutely wild with panic was the fact that Stiles was with him and he seemed to be as confused as Derek.

"I don't remember having the photo taken either," Derek confirmed. "I also don't remember ever being at a barbecue with you."

Stiles considered that for a moment and frowned. "Why have we never had a pack barbecue? That would be so great and maybe it would help us all bond so we could actually _be _a pack. A real one."

Things were sort of messed up on the whole pack front. There was a group of them and they all worked together for the most part and they all knew they could trust each other, but Scott was still learning the alpha ropes, and Derek was still coming to terms with not being an alpha any more. So, things were tricky.

A frustrated huff escaped Derek, "Oh yeah, because the big issue here isn't that we've woken up in an unfamiliar place with absolutely no recollection of getting here, it's that we haven't had a _pack barbecue_. Yeah, that really makes sense, Stiles."

"There you go again, being grumpy and jumping down my throat for nothing," Stiles accused. "This is why the witch got mad yesterday!"

Realisation struck them both at exactly the same moment and the argument that was about to unfold between them was instantly forgotten.

"Shit!" Stiles exclaimed. "The witch! Do you think this has something to do with her?"

Derek nodded. "It makes sense. And I can't think of any other explanation."

"Well at least we've got an idea of what's going on now," Stiles reasoned. "Hey, do you think there's clothes here that we could wear? 'Cause I'm not gonna lie I'm feeling a little self conscious being nude in front of all of _this_," he admitted, gesturing to Derek's bare torso.

Derek rolled his eyes at Stiles' comment before telling Stiles to close his eyes so he could get out of bed and find clothes for them both.

He went to the wardrobe and was surprised to find lots of clothes that both smelled like him and were in his size. Jeans, t-shirts, shirts, sweaters, jackets – everything. He pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a white henley and put them on before continuing to riffle through the rest of the clothes. There was a section at the end of the rail, consisting mainly of jeans and hoodies, that smelled strongly of Stiles. He pulled out jeans and a green t-shirt and threw them at Stiles.

"I think those are yours. Your scent is all over them."

— — — —

Once they were dressed Derek and Stiles decided that they should take a look around the house to try and find out more about what was going on. The minute he stepped out into the hallway, Derek froze. His heart hammered heavily in his chest as he took in his all too familiar surroundings.

Stiles, who was at the top of the huge mahogany staircase, turned to Derek when he noticed that he had stopped following him.

"Derek, you okay there?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. Derek's eyes were wide with some emotion that Stiles couldn't quite comprehend and his broad chest was heaving as he attempted to drag air into his lungs. "What's going on?"

"This is my house," Derek replied, his voice strained with emotion. "My family's house."

Stiles' mouth dropped open in surprise as he took in the information. He found it difficult to believe that this beautiful home, that as far as Stiles could tell didn't bare a single scorch mark, could be the burnt out shell of a house that he'd seen so many times. It made no sense, how was it even possible?

He ran into one of the other bedrooms on the landing and looked out of the window and sure enough, Stiles was faced with the woods that he had come to know so well over the past years. He imagined how terrible Derek must have been feeling, considering how he had reacted in front of Stiles. Derek had shown vulnerability in front of him which was incredibly out of character for him. Sympathy gripped Stiles as he considered how rattled Derek must have felt at realising he was in his family home. He knew that if their positions had been swapped, Stiles would have been shaken to his core.

Derek followed Stiles into the bedroom, needing to see the proof before he could really believe that this was his family's house, even though he already knew in his gut that it was. He stood at Stiles' shoulder and looked out at the trees as he tried to compose himself and calm his jangling nerves.

"This used to be Cora's bedroom," Derek confided quietly.

"Yeah?" Stiles asked, twisting to look at Derek. "Do you think it's hers now?"

Derek took a deep breath and shook his head. "I can smell Isaac in here."

"Do you think _he_ lives here?"

"The smell is too faint for him to live here. At the most, I'm guessing he just sleeps over sometimes."

Derek was relieved that in whatever world he was in, he and Isaac had patched things up enough for Isaac to have a room in his house. It gave him hope that maybe he would be able to make things right between them when he got back to his real life.

— — — —

They went to check the other rooms on the landing to see if Derek would be able to smell anything that would give them any other information. When they entered one bedroom with pale blue walls, silver bedsheets and massive bay windows, Stiles noticed the way Derek's mouth tugged up at the corner in an almost-smile. He told Stiles that this was definitely Cora's room, that her scent was everywhere.

"This used to be Laura's room but Cora always wanted it. She liked those big windows. She used to sneak in here when Laura was out and she would just lie on the patch of floor that the sun hit and colour in her colouring books until it was dark."

Grinning at the image Derek's words conjured, Stiles admitted, "It's hard to believe that Cora hasn't always been a surly wolf with a penchant for throwing people into walls like her big brother."

Derek snapped his teeth at Stiles playfully, "Shut up and let's go downstairs."

The bottom half of the house was all open plan and inviting, with a massive kitchen with granite work tops that led through to a cosy living room with an authentic fireplace. It was completely different from how the house had been before the fire but Derek liked it. It looked like a home again and that made contentment settle heavy in his chest. He moved away from Stiles to inspect the photos that were placed on the walls and shelves around the room and was once again greeted by familiar faces.

"Stiles, come here and look at these," he called over to Stiles who was in the kitchen raiding through the fridge.

There were more photos of him and Stiles laughing together, kissing and holding hands. The images made both of their insides twist and turn into tight knots for reasons that they couldn't quite fathom yet.

"We look…" Stiles trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.

"Happy," Derek finished for him. "We look really happy."

"Yeah," Stiles agreed softly

Stiles stared transfixed at the Derek in the photos. Although it was definitely him, he looked completely different. In each photo, his posture was open and relaxed and his smiles were warm and genuine - nothing like the false grins he'd seen Derek flash a few times over the years. The Derek in the photo's looked like the kind of guy that Stiles would want to be around and he wondered if that Derek could be somewhere inside the one that was standing next to him. He wasn't sure that it was possible though because the two Derek's seemed so completely opposite. But still he couldn't get the witch's words out of his head: "I'll just have to show you how things_ could be._"

"Look at this," Derek said, lifting up a photo to show Stiles.

It was a huge group photo of Stiles, Derek, Scott, Isaac, Allison, Lydia, Cora, Danny, Stiles' father, Scott's mom and to both of their surprise, Jackson. Stiles was on Derek's back while Scott and Allison kissed next to them, Cora was holding up bunny ears behind Isaac who was grinning obliviously at the camera as Stiles' dad watched on laughing. Scott's mom was next to Stiles' dad and was smiling wide, showing off her white teeth and Lydia, Jackson and Danny were sitting in front of everyone on the grass, looking like a trio of models. They looked like an odd but cheerful family. They looked like a _pack_.

They were both interrupted from their thoughts by the sound of someone entering the house before Cora came into the living room in a tank top, yoga pants and running shoes. She looked pretty much the same as the last time they had both seen her except her hair was shorter and grazed her shoulders.

"Oh, so you both finally decided to wake up," she greeted them with a grin, seemingly unphased by finding Derek and Stiles in her family home that should have been a burnt out wreck. "You must have needed the extra sleep. I got you the paper while I was out for my run."

Derek, who had been caught off guard by her presence, only just managed to catch the paper that she tossed at him. He took a look at it and gaped at the date on the front. According to the newspaper it was the 24th June, 2018. Four years in the future. Silently, he showed it to Stiles, whose colour immediately drained, leaving him a sickly grey colour.

"Hey, Stiles. Are you alright? You've gone really pale," Cora asked, frowning at him. "Do you feel sick?"

"Uh, no," Stiles answered, stumbling over his words a little. "I'm just… hungry. I haven't eaten today and you know I need to be fed pretty much hourly or I stop functioning."

"You should go sit down," she told him before turning to Derek. "Go make your boyfriend some breakfast for God's sake, he looks like he's about to pass out. And you can make me something while you're at it!"

Boyfriend. It was one thing to see the photos that suggested it but to hear someone say it was a whole different ball game. In this world, or in the future or wherever the hell they were, they were a couple; it was a lot to take in. Neither of them could imagine any way that they could have bonded enough to become the couple in all of the photos.

Once Cora had gone upstairs to shower, Stiles turned to Derek, his expression serious.

"I think we need to go and find Scott, wherever he is in this place. We need to get some real answers."

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**A/n: **_Thanks for reading! If anyone has tumblr my url is warriorhale! I take fic prompts and I'm always looking for new blogs to follow._


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